After the summer holiday, their next thought is getting ready for Christmas, which is another mad spending time for everyone. They want the latest of gadgets and toys for their children and family, spending hundreds and even thousands to appease their desire to give the best. Their homes have to be adorned with the latest designer Christmas decorations. They can't use last year's because they are no longer fashionable for the home. However, if they were truly honest with themselves they would know that their agenda was to impress their neighbours and visitors on how 'clever' they were for putting on such a 'beautiful' show.

They rush off to the stores to buy the pre-packed luxury foods for the special two day event. Then they complain about how stressed they are with the constant round of Christmas shopping. When Christmas Day arrives, they can't drag themselves to go to Church - would it be because they can't spend there?

Immediately after Christmas, they make a mad rush to get to the sales. They arrive home with several bags of items which they so desperately needed. The bags are opened to display the designer labelled garments - yet another way to impress upon their friends and neighbours of how successful they are because they can afford to wear 'designer' labels.

All of this is done happily without any concern for the cost involved because they tell themselves that "It's only plastic". When one of their plastic friends begins to show signs of too much wear, they apply for another and eventually another.

The cycle goes on. Suddenly it's Easter time and the house is beginning to look shabby. New furniture for indoors and garden furniture for outdoors becomes paramount. The flooring suddenly needs changing and the kitchen needs revamping or replacing. Once one room is completed, they move onto the next until they have finished the whole house.

Guess what the next item is? Yes, they need a new house and as soon as they get that, it's off for another holiday to get over all the stress involved in the buying and selling process of moving.

The cycle continues again and again until one day things change. Disaster strikes in the form of illness, redundancy, divorce or a bereavement in the

family.

Eventually they look back on the last few years and ask themselves what it was all about. They no longer have the money for the credit cards, loans and overdrafts, let alone the mortgage and now have to face a complete change in their live styles. The plastic friend, otherwise knows as the 'flexible

friend', is no longer a friend.

It is a fact that tens of thousands of credit card customers are facing the harsh reality of progressively escalating debt but it is never too late to take control and sort out a financial mess with a well structured repayment plan.

This is a new period for many people and also a very positive time in their lives. They are taking control of the plastic and looking forward to a more secure financial future without it.